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The vast reservoir of carbon stored beneath our feet is entering Earth's atmosphere at an increasing rate, according to a new study. Blame microbes: When they chew on decaying leaves and dead plants, they convert a storehouse of carbon into carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere.

The Pedometrics Committee on Prizes and Awards is pleased to announce the award of the Richard Webster Medal 2014 of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), to be awarded at the 21st World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) in August 2018. This medal recognises the person who has most advanced pedometrics in the period between the IUSS WCSS of 2014 and 2018, while also considering achievements prior to that period.

I am pleased to share with you my viewpoint for August related to energy use. I am reminded of the saying by Barry Commoner “The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.” Use of the fossil energy since circa 1750 has affected human’s ability to live in nature, especially with regards to the quality of soil, water and air. The environmental cost of doing nothing may be already too much.